1. Field of Invention
The present embodiments relate generally to capsules containing medication. In particular, the present embodiments relate to a device for opening or piercing such capsules, and extracting and collecting the medication therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional inhalers may be configured to puncture a capsule to allow the medication inside of the capsule to be inhaled. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,313 to Niccolai; U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,475 to Alternatt et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,391 to Cook et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,399 to Ganem et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,992 to Altounyan et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,284,553 to Hochrainer disclose typical inhalers.
More importantly, often times, with both over-the-counter medications and prescription medications, the need to open a capsule and utilize the powder inside that same capsule presents itself to a patient. The existing methodology to open capsules and collect the medication inside may involve the physical manipulation of the capsule and “opening” of the same by holding the capsule on opposite ends and twisting in opposite directions (on each side). Challenges to doing this type of physical manipulation of a capsule exist and include, but are not limited to: the patients' dexterity, disease states that patients' may have that would limit their ability to manipulate capsules (such as Parkinson's Disease or severe neuropathy), and/or variable sizes of capsules that make manipulation of the same too difficult. Conventional capsule opening techniques may have other drawbacks as well.